Stood Up
by katrin87
Summary: Steph has a date with Joe, but he can't find the time for it. Ranger shows up to save the day. Babe story. Contains smut.


_Standard disclaimers apply._

_There's smut in it, so you've been warned._

_Noel, this is for you. :) Annie, thank you for editing._

**Stood up**

It was 7.35 pm, windy and stormy. Steph sat on the couch in her apartment, waiting for Joe to show up. They had planned to go out to dinner, he had even invited her to Rossini's. She knew that he had to have something special in mind for even taking her out.

Normally one of them would go to Pino's and pick up a pizza or meatball subs. But to actually take it out it had to be special. And now she was sitting there, styled to the toes, hair and make up done in a sexy black dress, and he was already five minutes late. She knew that they had reservations for 8pm, so she didn't worry too much yet.

As the time ticked by, she got more restless, checking herself in the mirror again, checking on Rex and pacing, the blowing wind outside only adding to her sick feeling. It was already 7.45 when her cell phone rang, indicating she had a text message. She opened it to find a message from Joe.

_I'm sorry, but I won't be able to make it. I got caught up at work and don't know how long it'll take. I love you, J._

Damn, she thought, stood up for work once again.And he had promised her that he wouldn't be on call that evening, that would have the evening to themselves.

She got up to change into her jammies to veg out on the couch, watching ghostbusters her phone rang again. She opened it to find a multimedia message from Ranger. The picture was of Joe, kissing some woman unbeknown to her. The text read

_Don't change, I'm gonna pick you up in 5 min._

How the hell did he know what was going on, she was asking herself. How had he known of the sms Joe had send her? 

Over her mulling the 5 minutes had passed and there was a knocking at the door. She got up to open it, wondering who might come over, because she thought that Ranger would pick the locks. As it turned out it was indeed Ranger, dressed in black slacks and a black silk shirt, his hair loose.

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. But how did you know of it?"

"I saw him call her today to cancel on their date, but I got a weird feeling, so I followed him today. He drove right over after work. I knew that the two had a date planned tonight. I heard him bragging about it when I delivered a skip. I saw him type the message and was sure that he would send it to you, so I took a picture for you."

"Who else knows?" That was my main concern at the moment. I couldn't endure it to have my mom tell me again that I can't keep them sexually satisfied.

"Tank. He won't say anything to anyone. We just thought you should know. Are you okay? You seem to be really calm."

"I always suspected it but never got the proof to show for."

"And you still kept going back to him?" He sounded actually surprised.

"He was safe, and you sent me back to him, I felt like he was the only option I had"

He drew her into his arms, seeing the many mistakes he had made in their relationship. Ranger knew that Joe had intended to ask her to marry him, although Steph didn't know it. She may have suspected it, but she couldn't be sure.

That had Ranger realizing how close he had come to loosing her.

"I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to get hurt. I thought you would be better of with him. But I'm so, so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Stephanie was crying into his shoulder, the emotions Ranger was showing too much for her to comprehend in her confused state. He let her be, getting it out of her system. He was rubbing soothing circles on her back to help her calm down. When she finally stopped crying she looked up at Ranger.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry all over you like this. And I'm sure my eyes are all red and puffy." Her eyes were swimming with tears once again, but she tried to fight them back.

"You're beautiful, just the way you are. Go clean up a little and I'm gonna take you out for dinner."

She went to do damage control, wiping of the strains of her so called water proof mascara and touched up her make up a little. When she came out of the bathroom he had already collected her purse and her wrap for her so she was ready to go.

Due to her heels he got into the elevator with her. They were grateful that Mrs Bestler was nowhere to be seen, giving them some privacy.

"Where are we going?"

"I hope you don't mind going back to my place?"

"No, as long as we don't go to Rossini's I'm fine. Do I get to see the batcave?"

"You already saw it."

"Huh?"

"I don't have a house here in the area. I have a house down in Miami, which I use when I go down for business and when I visit Julie so she can stay over, but the only living space I have here is the apartment above the offices. I used to have a house here as well, but it was too big for me so I sold it two years ago."

Without even realizing it, they had made it out to the Turbo Ranger had come in. He opened the door for her, helping her get in, before he went around to the drivers side.

"Why didn't you tell me that your apartment here is the batcave?"

"Because I told you that the batcave was forever and I didn't want to scare you." His voice was gentle, tender and it made her feel good. 

They made the drive over in silence. Ranger was rubbing tiny circles on Stephanie's thigh, driving her slowly crazy. She didn't know what Ranger wanted with her, but she had never been able to ward off the feelings he was causing in her.

When Ranger had parked the car he told her to stay put. He got out and went around to help her out, then guiding her over to the elevator, he keyed them up and they stood silents as the car made its ascent, aware of the cameras.

When they finally got out of the elevator she wanted to kiss him desperately, but she knew that he wouldn't want it in front of the cameras. The guys on monitor duty must have been wondering what was going on due to their attire anyways.

Ranger opened the door to his apartment, motioning for her to walk in. He followed closely, watching the surprise fly over her features. He dropped the keys onto the sideboard before walking Stephanie further into the room.

"Wow." Stephanie stood there, her mouth open in awe, taking in the apartment. The dining room, where he had led her, was only dimly lit by candles. There were candles on every surface, bathing the room in a soft glow.

"When did you do all this?" She had turned around in his arms, looking up at him.

"When I got this yucky feeling about Morelli I called Ella and told her to prepare everything. Just in case. There should even be dessert for you."

"What would you have done if Joe hadn't stood me up?" She just needed to know. She felt like the answer to this question would tell her a lot about Ranger and his feelings.

"I would have crashed in one of the apartments downstairs until Ella had the chance to remove all the reminders of what could have been." That was quite an admission for a man like Ranger and it meant a lot for her to hear him say this.

That was the moment when Stephanie realized that she really loved him, that she was with Morelli because she didn't want to be alone.

"I'm so sorry, Ranger." She was close to tears again and he could hear it in her voice.

"What are you sorry for?" He was afraid that she was about to dump him, so he was a little apprehensive, going stiff under her touch.

"I just realized how much I have hurt you all the times when I went back to Morelli."

"Why did you go back to him?" His voice was soft, gentle, but she knew she had to answer him.

"I thought I love him, and I didn't want to be alone. I thought you didn't want me." She was sniffing, all the sadness, hurt and anticipation rolling through her, getting bigger than her. "But I... I love you." There she had blurted it out and she felt better. Now at least he knew how she felt, it was his turn now.

"God, you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you day that." He bent down to kiss her, soft, gently, to show her his affection. "I love you, too, you know. More than you'll ever know." He kissed her again, this time with more passion, telling her how much he wanted her.

The kiss went on and dinner was soon forgotten. She was sure that Ella had prepared something wonderful, but she had a serious Ranger craving. Ranger wasn't in any better condition, the kiss had heated both of them up, so he backed her toward his bedroom, careful not to bump her into anything.

They were kissing the whole way, never easing up and after a little their hands wanted in. Stephanie had her arms around his neck, holding him to her, but her right hand wandered down his back, until she reached his butt, squeezing and massaging his cheeks. Ranger's arms had rested around her waist and one hand moved to her butt to do as she was doing, while he brought the other one up between them to caress her breast.

When they reached the bedroom both were breathless, but in a serious state. She could feel how much he wanted her, the evidence poking her in her stomach.

Before she even realized what he was doing he was undoing the zipper at the back of her dress, slowly peeling her out of it. The dress pooled at her feet and she stepped out of it, leaving her only in a pair of tiny panties, as the dress hadn't allowed for a bra, and her heels.

"You're so beautiful." He kissed his way down her jaw to her neck, sucking on her pulse point. Steph was busy trying to undress him. She had his shirt out of his pants, but because she was so frantic to get him naked and her hands were shaking so bad, she couldn't get the buttons open.

"Let me help you." He pushed her hands away and undid the buttons himself, throwing the discarded shirt behind him. 

Stephanie was already trembling in his arms, so he finished undressing to spare her the trouble. He picked her up and placed her down onto his bed, her feet hanging over the side. Sitting down beside her feet, he picked her feet up to unbuckle the shoes and slipped them off her feet. He placed one foot on his lap, while he started massaging the other one. When he was satisfied that she was a pile of goo he started in on the other one, relaxing her completely. 

He kissed his way up her leg, nibbling behind her knee, pressing feather soft kisses to her skin. When he reached the inside of her thigh he could see how wet her panties were. Stephanie was already moaning, her head swinging from side to side. Her breathing was labored and he hadn't even touched her yet where she desired it most.

He trailed kisses further up, but skipped her sex and started again at her hips, leaving his mark on her hip bone, he moved upwards, only stopping to tongue her belly button, before he moved to her breasts.

His lips encircled one of her nipples, tugging lightly on it, before he sucked it hard, his hand taking care of the other one, rubbing and tugging until it was hard. 

He switched between breasts, working her into a frenzy. He knew that it wouldn't take much more for her to come, so he abandoned her breasts, moving down on her again. He hooked his fingers into the sides of her delicate lace panties, tugging them down. She had trouble to lift her hips to help him, but they managed.

The panties out of the way he parted her legs, opening her for his view. She was glistening with her arousal, waiting for him to make the next move. She had her hands fisted into the blankets.

He leaned down between her legs and softly blew, causing her hips to shoot off the bed, trying to get in contact with him. 

He licked up from her opening to her clit, circling it with his tongue. After a few licks she fell over, screaming his name, bucking wildly. Her head was thrown back in ecstasy and he could see the tremor in her muscles. He gave her a moment to calm down before he started again, his tongue circling her clit and before long he pushed first one, then two fingers into her.

She was getting close again, the quivering muscles in her thighs all he needed to know.

"Ranger, please, I need you inside me." 

"Do I need a condom, Babe?" He looked down at her and saw how she had to fight to speak.

"Nooo, I'm on the pill. Just get inside me."

He obliged, sheathing himself with one sure stroke to the hilt. He gave her a moment to adapt to his size before he started moving inside her. She immediately brought her legs up around his hips to anchor him to her.

With sure, long strokes he brought her close to release, only to slow down again. He repeated the process a few times until he couldn't control himself any longer and with a few hard strokes he pushed them both over into orgasm.

They were both shaking, unable to move. After some time their breathing slowed down a little, enabling them to talk again. 

"What about dinner, Babe? You up and moving or do you want to eat in bed?"

"Bed."

He got up to get the dinner Ella had left him, while she scooted up on the bed, propping herself up on the headboard. 

That's how Ranger found her when he came back with the tray. She was naked as the day she was born, her ankles crossed and a smile on her face.

He settled down beside her and they enjoyed their dinner together. Dinner led to another round, and another, until the finally got to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

Ranger had her anchored to his front and with a whispered "I love you" they fell both asleep.


End file.
